Hello.
Maybe you've arrived here tired,
Stressed,
Unable to deal with the uncertainty,
The anxiety.
Maybe you have too much to do,
Too little time to do it.
Whatever brought you here.
Well done.
Well done for tuning out the world and tuning in to yourself.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
I teach at a school that was founded by Benedictine monks and nuns,
And there have been times when I have joined them for one of their prayer services that they do during the day.
And as I sit amongst them,
I noticed two things.
First,
It is the way that they use a pause.
So someone will say something.
There's almost a collective breath.
And then they will go on.
And so what I noticed are the pauses and being a part of a community that is all pausing together.
And that's what these meditations can offer.
It allows us in our experience to pause with others asynchronously but still with others,
As we do this work of living our very human lives.
So let's do this together.
Inhale.
Pause.
Inhale.
Pause.
Feel where you are connected to the earth as you inhale.
Pause.
Feel the release as you exhale.
Pause.
Inhale,
Pulling in fresh new life.
Pause.
Exhale the stress,
The worry,
The exhaustion.
Pause.
Inhale,
Knowing that you and your spirit are incredibly wonderfully made.
Pause.
Exhale,
Releasing those voices telling you,
You aren't doing enough.
Pause.
Inhale,
And hold on to that quiet center.
Pause.
Exhale,
Feeling the earth,
Supporting you.
Pause.
Stay with your breath,
Releasing in your jaw,
Your shoulders,
Softening in your belly.
Pause.
Use your breath as the thing to help you.
Pause.
The outside world will be there.
But for now,
All you have to do is breathe.
Pause.
Stay.
Pause.
Settle.
Pause.
Open.
Pause.
When we leave this space together,
Where we have paused,
Where we have released and centered,
May we return to our lives with a more grounded and spacious spirit.
May we feel our own worthiness,
Our own sense of wonder about ourselves and the world.
And may we help others find these things in themselves as well.
Take one more deep inhale.
Pause.
Let it all go.
Pause.
Namaste.
